Hunter's moon
by yume girl 91
Summary: The hunter and the hunted. But when vengeance is finally dealt...is it really what he wanted? Au HitsuRuki


~~~Hunter~~~

The full yellow tinged moon rose high above the trees farther off a lone wolf howled. I stood in the center of the clearing; Ryusenka's polished metal glinted with a demonic light and then as I listened intently to the whispering woods…I heard it. The unmistakable cry of a man on the point of death.

I plunged into the forest, tiny branches snapped as they snagged the black coat. Twigs crackled loudly under foot, I neared the opposite opening and entered a circle of moonlight. A woman thin and small wearing a ragged crimson cloak bent over a man I recognized as being from Karakura village.

"Please spare me! I beg you!" he pleaded.

Tiny white fingers cupped his chin up, two tiny fangs flashed in the darkness, "no," she hissed. Her head went down to the trembling man's throat; I quickly leveled Ryusenka, though I knew it wouldn't be the fatal shot and fired four silver rounds. The sound of the gunfire only lasted six seconds but in that time _she_ had escaped dodging even the last two from the spinning barrel. "Damn she escaped…" I muttered as I drew near to the dark wetness splotching the leaves.

I plucked one and rubbed it between my gloved fingers, the faint aroma of rot reached my nostrils, "but she's been hit." Things were definitely looking up. I cocked Ryusenka, the bullet chamber was empty but I had spares. The last hunt in Kyoto hadn't required as many and I'd had some left over. I replaced these now and spun the muzzle loading them in.

"Where are you going? It's dangerous out there!" the man from Karakura said. His voice still quavered and from the rough accent I gathered he must be a woodcutter. Probably out harvesting fresh branches when _she_ had come across him. The smell of fear was still rank on him and below that was another ancient fouler odor I slipped my finger around the trigger and turned slowly around, "what's it to you? I've been hired to rid this place of that menace for good!"

It may have been a lie but in the way the woodcutter's face elongated, the skin splitting over the sharp bones and the mouth parted filled with rows of splintered teeth, I knew _she_ had feasted on him before. My green eyes narrowed to hard slits, "kill me then." The vampling newborn rushed me and one shot rang out.

Night birds roused by the sound took hurried flight; I lowered the gun and stared unblinkingly at the raw bloody stump that had once been human. "I pity you," I whispered, my coat swished as I turned and once more entered the forest.

~~~The hunt~~~

My fate had changed the night _she_ came into it. _I had lived with my Uncle Jushiro at the edge of Aokigahara forest; our cottage weather beaten and homely had been my home for as long as I could remember. For days on end we'd tramp down to the near seaside and cast our nets for fish in the ocean. On a high cliff overlooking one particular favorite spot was Asagao castle, the ancient ancestral seat of the Kuchiki nobles. It was in ruins and I often used to gaze up at it on days when the fish were slow and the humid summer heat smothered us like a blanket._

_The princess, my Uncle told me one restful evening, had died cursing the Tokugawa for taking away her betrothed, a Samurai by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo. She had, upon learning of his death, thrown herself from the highest natural point of the cliff to fall into the frothing sea below. My Uncle pointed the spot out to me, a barren gray area unbroken but for a single boulder at the edge, my eyes traced this with wonder and sadness, thinking of the life she had thrown away so long ago._

_Sometimes later I would study this same spot all the while thinking of her. It was during a roiling sea storm that had swept up the coast and caught us at unawares when I first laid eyes upon her cursed figure. My Uncle was stowing our boat away on the beach; I was helping him. A sudden cry like that of a wounded seagull pierced the snapping wind; I looked around seeing nothing then inexplicably my eyes were drawn up to Asagao and the crimson dot standing perilously close to the cliff's edge. _

_A girl!_

_I didn't stop to think about what she possibly could be doing up there; my bare feet carried me to the bottom of the cliff, old stone steps had been carved into the stone itself. I mounted these ignoring my Uncle's calling voice, warning me telling me that there wasn't anything up there. I was out of breath when I reached the top, "don't do it!" I gasped out hoarsely. The girl had her back to me but now she turned, tangled raven locks framed her beautiful pale face; her eyes were large and consumed me in their icy depths._

"_Don't…" I whispered awed all at once by her fragile beauty, "it is dangerous there…come away!" Something changed in her expression…surprise? "Yes…you are right," she agreed slowly. Her feet moved soundlessly hidden by the heavy folds of the cloak and beneath it, a mantle of red interspersed with sprays of plum blossoms. She stumbled once and I hurried forward, catching her by the arms, "careful. It's slippery…" she looked me straight in the eyes then…I couldn't look away. I lowered my head onto her shoulder she brushed my lips lightly then caressingly nibbled down to my throat. Her jaws opened wide…wider…_

"_Toshirooo!!!"_

_I started; she looked up from beneath the curtain of hair, a snarl rumbled low in her porcelain throat. Uncle Jushiro stood at the top of the stair, an expression of disbelief etching itself onto his face, into his eyes. I'll never forget the horror that manifested itself in his wide brown eyes when she threw me aside. Her body moved in one single fluid movement and at once she was upon him. I tried through the foggy muddle of my brain to warn him…the emptiness of the air in which he plunged into. When they were both gone I crawled to the edge and peered down, a single crimson dot darted away far below and a broken gray clad figure was dashed on the hard unforgiving ground_.

~~~The hunted~~~

I remembered everything during this solitary trek, the cause for my bitterness my way of life…to get revenge. I lived for it, apprenticing to the arms dealer Kisuke Urahara in Edo until the day I left to wander around, being hired out to rid the villages of this newfound scourge, worse than Colonel Perry's black ships, worse than the Bakumatsu…Vampires. The undead…born of the long dead princess. Yes…I knew it was her…the Kuchiki princess. I found my feet entering a familiar path, well worn but now overgrown. Just the barest outline of it marked the earth. I continued on…soon the smell of salt air whetted my nostrils.

I tightened my grip on Ryusenka, knowing what I'd come across next. Stairs…old and the gray stone cracked, visible beneath the moonlight came into sight. I descended these slowly knowing that at the end I'd finally absolve my vendetta. It was now or never I reached the top, my feet met the rounded stone and I stepped up; she sat in the weathered shell, her cloak trailed blood red on the ground.

"You've come…finally," she spoke softly almost wistfully. I breathed deeply, staving off the longing her voice brought forth within me. Her violet eyes turned away from the sight of the moon hanging low in the sky, their gaze deep and piercing. She could sense it…I know…the bitter thorn placed inside my soul, the part of me that _wanted_ her. That wanted to give up and kneel at her feet, to beg her to take me…give me the kiss of death.

She got up and went before me, dropping the cloak as she did so. Her bare skin gleamed alluringly; I raised Ryusenka and pointed it at her. "Do it…Toshiro," she said my name caressingly, my heart beat faster. "Take your revenge for the person I took from you."

My hands went numb; Ryusenka fell from them clattering to the ground. I went toward her falling into her arms. "Why?" she asked, slipping her fingers through my white hair. My lips grazed her jaw; my hands roughly kneaded her breasts sliding around the hardening nipples. "Because…I have no right to," I answered her finally before tasting her mouth. _How long had I hunted her_?

_Seeking useless revenge for a crime I had a part in myself…if I had never gone up there and made my Uncle follow…if we had never come to this place. Ever_. I felt her hands entwine around my neck, I molded her body to mine forcefully taking her. She yielded to me never letting our bodies' part. She licked my throat; her kiss deepening, her fangs grazed my skin…

The pain wasn't at all like I imagined. Warmth flowed out into her parted lips; my mind, my body was in the thrall of pure ecstasy. She would drain me until I was nothing but a dried corpse and all my life-blood filled her. Her tongue lapped at the blood slowly and then she pulled away, her hands pushed into my chest when I offered her more. "No…" she said with pain visible in her eyes, "you. Out of all of them…those I cannot remember anymore. You are the purest. Your heart only bears this darkness because of me."

I caught her hand and held it tightly despite the winter coldness of her skin. "Not you…it's not your fault…"

"Rukia." she answered.

"Rukia," I breathed, kissing her fingers and drawing her close again. "You didn't choose this…but I do. Let me stay with you. Make me yours…forever." She trembled when I spoke those words; _had he_, _her betrothed spoken the same so long ago? And then broken the promise by dying the death of a warrior? _

I gently leaned into her and pressed her lips to my throat; "You don't have to be lonely anymore," I assured her. Rukia kissed me once again and then bit down, sealing my fate.

~~~After the moon rises~~~

I watched the full moon rise again. Its beauty taking my forgotten breath away, she slipped up behind me, her violet eyes drinking in the same sight. I turned my head and our lips met. "It's time," she said after we'd broken apart. I nodded and got to my feet. We ran away merging together in the paths of the deep forest. In the ruins of the castle of Asagao, silver metal glinted but had been long forgotten.

Finis.

A/N: Supposed to be the first in a series of Hitsu/Ruki one shots, but eh. I'm too lazy. Note: we all know I don't own Bleach :( please review!


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